How we deal with planning applications

Commenting on an application

We will notify local councillors, parish or town council and statutory consultees of the application. We will publicise the application using either site notices, letters to neighbours or a press advert, depending on the application type.

You can find out about applications in your area by looking at the weekly lists or searching the planning system.

Anyone can comment on an application and has 21 days from the publicity date to do this. Comments will be considered as a part of the decision process. The case officer will assess the relevance of the comments and may request amendments to the application, where necessary, to address planning issues.

We will only consider comments or objections that are significant and relevant to planning. For example:

  • overlooking - the proposal would lead to previously private areas being overlooked to an unacceptable level
  • overshadowing - the height or proximity of the development would be such that unreasonable overshadowing would occur
  • disturbance - there would be unacceptable intrusion in the form of noise, odour, general disturbance
  • overbearing - the scale of the works means that the property/premises has an oppressive impact on surrounding areas/houses
  • out of character - if the design of the development, its scale and use, is such that it appears to be out of character with its surroundings
  • road safety - the development may lead to a significant impact on road safety.

Issues we will not consider include:

  • Issues covered by other legislation
  • Loss of value to a property, loss of a private view, and potential difficulties in property maintenance
  • Private interests of objectors, the effect of the proposal on property values and competition between rival companies.

If we receive comments about a planning application that are considered to be discriminatory, offensive or defamatory, these remarks will not be included in any reports or published on the Council's website. A discriminatory representation is one which could include words, phrases or comments which are likely to:-

  • Be offensive to a particular group;
  • Be abusive, insulting or threatening;
  • Apply pressure to discriminate; or
  • Stir up hatred or contempt of a particular part of the community.

Representations should also not include any other offensive material or content which could be considered defamatory. Any discriminatory, offensive or defamatory representations may be returned to the author with a request that they be resubmitted containing only material planning considerations. We reserve the right to withhold from publication on this website any comments or parts of comments not considered suitable for public view.

The Planning Portal also has information on commenting on proposed development.

Any comments on applications should be made through our planning system. Please include your postal address as we will not show your email address. Please note that comments made online will be published on the next working day.

To view more information on how we handle your data, please view our full Privacy Notice on our data protection pages